In Pictures: Boston Standard's news review of the year 2023

• January: Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue dispatched nine appliances, including both its aerial ladder platforms, to a fire in London Road, Boston. Evacuations were made to nearby properties after fears there could be an explosion. The derelict building was formerly occupied by Silt Side Services.

• February: Calls were being made for safety bollards to be placed outside shops in part of Strait Bargate after a car crashed into the Age UK shop, reportedly injuring three people.

• March: A grandfather of four from Kirton was given a Queen's Gallantry Award for rescuing a woman from a house fire. Kenneth Wood was given the Queen's Commendation for Bravery after saving the young woman from a devastating fire in the early hours of New Year's Day, in which three people died.

• April: The lack of available NHS dentistry in the Boston area was called ‘ludicrous’ – with concerns for those on the breadline who cannot access affordable treatment. New data revealed Boston borough had the highest proportion of five year-olds with dental decay in England.

• May: It was all change at Boston Borough Council when the Independents swept to victory at the elections, taking over from a long-held Tory-led council. The party said it hoped to bring a 'fresh perspective' to the borough.

• June: Authorities said they were cracking down on 'issues' in Boston's West Street after it was revealed some 300 fixed penalty notices for offences such as ABS, urinating, verbal harassment, damage to shop fronts, and being drunk and disorderly were issued there in just one year.

• July: Anger was voiced over a ‘disturbing’ mockumentary that placed a fictional human meat factory in Boston. The satire, fronted by Gregg Wallace, was aired on Channel Four and attracted more than 400 complaints to Ofcom.

• August: A Boston couple's TikTok parody video with their old Proton car went viral with millions of views. Jon and Amy Coupland made a video mimicking a popular TikTok ‘Bentley ASMR’ video, in which a model touches the luxurious features of the high-class car while seductively whispering ‘Bentley’ - only in Jon's video, Amy comically says 'Proton'.

• September: Boston’s Pescod Square Shopping Centre bid farewell to Wilko, a tenant of almost 20 years. The town’s branch of Wilko closed its doors for the final time after the retail chain went into administration in August. A new tenant - OneBeyond - was in place by Christmas.

• October: Boston Borough Council issued an apology after after a visiting funfair led to extensive damage to the ground surface at Central Park. The event is held annually at the park, but this year had to suffer the onslaught of Storm Babet. The fair operator pledged to pay to restore the park to its former condition.

• November: An iconic piece of cinematic history was unveiled at war museum near Boston. Staff and volunteers at the We’ll Meet Again WWII Museum had spent months restoring the full-sized Hurricane plane replica from the 1969 film The Battle of Britain.

• December: We looked back on the tenth anniversary of the flood to hit Boston in December 2013 – with new eyewitness accounts and a look at what has changed since then.